The United States Department of Education awarded NSU a $2.85 million Post-Baccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans grant to expand post-baccalaureate educational opportunities and academic offerings for students from Hispanic or ethnically diverse backgrounds who are studying computer science and related fields in college.
Co-Project Director Meline Kevorkian said she and Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences Professor Gregory Simco designed the grant to help undergraduate students who are studying computer science or related fields get accepted into graduate school. The proposal was made to coincide with the education department’s focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Kevorkian said that STEM fields are in high demand and a lot of jobs available to students nationally, but there are a limited number of students who are prepared to enter those fields.
“We decided to help students find these kinds of successful pathways to support them to be successful in their undergraduate programs,” she said.
The grant was provided through the education department’s Title V program, which provides grants to help Hispanic-serving institutions retain Hispanic students and expand opportunities for them.
“In computer science, we generally see less Hispanics, Latinos and underrepresented minorities than in other fields,” Kevorkian said. “However, everything we do is to benefit all students who have the interest and desire to pursue these areas.”
The grant will prompt changes to the curriculum and programs associated with NSU’s STEM colleges. Kevorkian said they will work closely with industries to identify what skills are needed for those careers and make sure that the curriculum in place will help students develop those skills.
“We’re preparing students to work in technology jobs that haven’t even been invented yet,” Kevorkian said. “This is not an area where you can sit still.”
Simco agreed that the lack of students prepared to enter the STEM fields is a global issue.
“Our mission here at NSU supports the need for employment in high-demand fields in STEM programs,” Simco said. “As the older work force starts to retire, we want to make sure that we’re prepared for the next 10 to 30 years.”
With the grant, Kevorkian said that technology students will have a great opportunity to engage in graduate level activities and research, just as the science and education students do. She and Simco believe that the early exposure to graduate education will help with program retention and with students’ transition between undergraduate and graduate school.
“The student becomes engaged in not only the theory, but also the practice, at a much earlier stage in their education and career, and they get to have more of an intellectually stimulating relationship with the faculty members,” Simco said. “The exposure to the outside industry will allow students to see what they will be doing in their career a lot sooner.”
The proposal outlined what Simco and Kevorkian wanted to change at NSU and how they would go about reaching those goals. They submitted the proposal to the education department and it was officially approved on Oct. 1. They are currently readjusting curriculum and programs to reflect the goals of the proposal.
For more information on the education department’s STEM initiative, visit its website at ed.gov/stem.
